Quality Time: Late Night Watching Pt. 1
by PrettyGothGirl

All Disclaimers Apply
Summary:Cid contrives for Rikku and Gippal to spend some Quality Time together. Part Seven: A late night watch has Gippal thinking about their relationship, though not enough.
A/N: Ohhh back to chapter time! No interludes this week. Ahh well.

Gippa leaned over and pressed a mug into Rikku's hands. Even in the dark she could tell it was steaming. Warmth seeped through the thick ceramic and into her fingers. Her eyes half closed in pleasure and relief.

"Mmm, thank you." She murmured and took a sip. Gippal eased down beside her. She wiggled closer to him, hoping he wouldn't mind sharing body heat. "Warm. The cold makes me hate these night watches."

Gippal wrapped an arm about her waist and stroked the exposed skin of her stomach. "Perhaps more clothes." He took a sip out of a mug similar to hers.

She smiled. "I supposed I could cover myself neck to toe. Show up in one of those excavation suits." She pressed her head to his shoulder and kept an eye on the window in the building across from them.

"I wouldn't like that."

The smile turned into a grin. "I thought not."

Gippal tried to hold back a yawn and couldn't. Rikku yawned with him. He shook his head to clear it and blinked rapidly.

"Stop that." She muttered. "It contagious."

"Sorry. Tired. We both have day jobs. Something I think Cid conveniently forgets."

"Go ahead. Tell him no."

He shuddered. No one. No one told Cid no if they were sane. Anikki wasn't considered among that number and as Cid's son, allowances were made, but even he gave in after a time. "What's our target doing?"

"Probably sleeping." Rikku tried not to sound cranky. It didn't work, as she wanted to be sleeping too. She gripped the mug tighter. "A better way to pass the time than this." She muttered.

Gippal didn't take offense. It was a frustrating duty. Especially when they both had work the next morning. He set the mug down and took hers. Besides this was an opportunity. She shifted, turning her head to look up at him. She frowned. He cupped her cheek. "I can think of a few." He leaned down slowly, giving her time to say no. Her lips parted just as his touched them. She hadn't refused a kiss from him yet. Well, there was the one time she'd dumped the drink over his head, but that hadn't been a total refusal. She'd been going along with it, until the water drenched him. He focused on the kiss. She tasted sweet, courtesy of the drink. Her lips soft and warm, feather light against his.

She slipped the arm closest to his body up his chest. Her hand cupped the back of his neck, torsos pressed together at an angle, absolutely perfect. She pulled back, staring into his eyes and she smiled. He smiled back and brushed a braid away from her face. "Get some sleep." He murmured. "I'll wake you in a few hours."

Her hand slid down and rested on his chest. She blinked. "Then you nap?"

"Yeah." That was the idea.

She wiggled down and laid her head on his chest, next to her hand. "All right, sounds fair."

He picked up his drink and took a sip. The bitter liquid offset Rikku's sweetness, but couldn't get rid of it completely. It was a mix of her lip-gloss and the sugar in her drink, intoxicating. He heard her breathing soften and even out. Having her curled up next to him was almost as good as kissing her. He kept his eye trained on the monitor that was showing what the camera was recording. The other building was dark and still. He finished his drink without realizing it and grimaced when he sipped and came up empty. He sighed and put it down.

He looked down at Rikku the curves of her face and body clear in the darkness. Kissing wasn't the only good way he could think to pass the dark hours. If he trailed his fingers just so, kissed right there, he could make her melt, gasp and writhe. Strip them out of their clothes and make love all night long. He shifted and swallowed a groan, a much better idea than observing some criminal for Cid.

His hands twitched. He needed something to occupy them, something else to occupy his mind. Rikku moved. His arm tickled, a brush across his skin and he jumped. Rikku shifted a little. He looked down and saw Rikku's hair brush his arm again. It gleamed even in the dim light of the evening, as if attracting the available light.

Gippal grinned. He eyed the little braids and the ponytail. Picking up a braid near the base he pulled off the bottom bead and began to unweave it. He didn't want to wake her. Here was a way to make the night go faster. The silky feel and the repetitive motions of under, over with glances at the monitor and out the windows put him into a soothing trance. From the disturbed strands rose the smell of her shampoo.

He liked being with her like this. It was restful, not something most people associated with Rikku. They saw her as a bunch of energy and bounce. Yet, he knew there was a side to her that did like cuddling. A part of her that just liked being together with another person and doing nothing but touch and feel or in this case, sleep. The evenness of her breathing, the small rise and fall of her chest eased his nerves.

And sometimes he preferred being with her like this, quiet and tired because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't mess up and she wouldn't yell at him or hit him or be hurt by him or dump icy cold drinks over his head. It was easier, easier than watching and gauging his words and hands and worrying about not saying enough, touching her wrong or saying too much. Plus, he could touch her, play with he hair and not be disturbed.

He smiled. He couldn't be doing too badly. She hadn't followed through on her threat to yell at him the next time he made her mad. The soft strands of her hair caught on the calluses of his fingers.

Once undone it fell in crisp waves over her shoulders and down to her mid back. He combed it with his fingers until she shifted, mumbling to herself incomprehensible words. She blinked and stared up at him. "Am I dreaming?"

"No." He murmured.

She smiled. "Good." She laid her head back down.

He shrugged a shoulder, disturbing her. "It's my turn to nap."

She looked up and yawned. "Oh." She sat up and her hair slid over her shoulders. She put a hand up to feel for the ponytail and blinked again. "Umm…"

He lie down and put his hands under his head, closing his eyes. "It wasn't me."

He heard her yawn. "I didn't do it myself." She grumbled. "You took it down."

"Nope."

She poked his stomach. "Gippal."

"Can't hear you, I'm asleep."

She sighed, not at all believing him and then he really did fall asleep.

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